Archives for May 2015

This daily deal expired… The Woot Electronics Deal of the Day good until 1am ET on Tuesday is a sale on the new condition Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBL closed-back studio-headphones offered for $150 plus $5 flat shipping. Limit three per customer during this promotion.

The new condition price of the new second generation over-ear Sennheiser Momentum is $350 but if you don’t want to wait for future sales and you are comfortable with used headphones, both the iOS version (in black) and the Android version (in brown) are available in “Used – Good” condition for $262.50~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals. Only one listing is there for each option, so they may not last long (this is only a guesstimate).

From the flying under the radar’s radar headphones, the Yahama HPH-MT120BL Studio headphones are currently on sale for $100 with free shipping by Adorama at amazon.com. Only this color scheme is currently on sale. They have two customer reviews, both of which are complaining about issues.

The Audio Technica M40x typically goes for $100 on its own, but it is also offered in bundles with free accessories at the same price from time to time. Case in point, you can get it for $100 with the Fiio E6 tiny portable amp from seller “Amazing Deals Online” with the order fulfilled at amazon.com. This bundle averages 4.7 out of 5 based on 94 customer reviews.

It previously climbed up to $50 but it’s back down again, as of the time of writing, there are multiple listings of the JLab Omni over-ear bluetooth headphones going for $40 (was $42.50~) in “Used – Very Good” condition by Amazon Warehouse Deals. The “Used – Like New” price (second page of results of there) is $45~. Given all these listings, it is possible that the price may drop if they don’t get purchased at a rate that the pricing-computer considers acceptable. These average 4.1 out of 5 based on 120+ customer reviews. The usual Bluetooth caveats apply…

The portable Fiio E07K Andes USB DAC/AMP is currently available in refurbished condition for $68 with free shipping by seller “Brainstorm LLC” (99%) with the order fulfilled by Amazon so it is eligible for free 2-day Prime shipping. This averages 4.3 out of 5 based on 220+ customer reviews. Keep in mind, both supplies and prices of used items are limited and can change more often than they typically do for new condition items.

The vertical-ribbon shaped AmoVee Acrylic Headphone Stand, in the black color scheme, is currently on sale for $12.80, sold by the maker with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so it is eligible for Prime shipping benefits.

The green color-scheme of the closed-back on-ear STREET by 50 Cent is currently on sale for $80 by two marketplace sellers (Electronics Expo, Stereo Advantage) at Amazon.com. The other seven colors range from $95 to $140. Speaking of which, their first generation Star Wars Themed Stormtrooper On-Ears are on sale for $120 with a limit of five per customer.

Four more items were added to Massdrop, one of which is fully unlocked as of the time of writing, the Sennheiser HD-5xx ZY Cable goes for $25~ shipped. This fits these models: HD518, HD558, HD595, HD598. Basically current HD 5xx open-back line-up plus good old 595.

Not fully unlocked at the moment are the following items, the Matrix M-Stage HP2 DAC-Amp that could go as low as $210 shipped, the portable Topping NX1 amp that could go as low as $36 shipped, and the TTPOD T1S IEMs that could go as low as $32.50~ shipped. All the items mentioned in this post end in about 6-7 days from blog-posting date here.

The JVC HAR-X700 is the third in a four headphone budget closed-back over-ear headphone line-up (no mic/remote), and it is currently available in refurbished condition with a 30 day warranty for $26 with free shipping by Ocean Reef Electronics thru Amazon. This ships from Ocean, so everyone gets free shipping, but no Prime shipping benefits. The headphones average 4.4 out of 5 with nearly 600 customer reviews.

Back on sale again, the black shadow color-scheme of the V-MODA Crossfade M-80 on-ears is on sale for $80 with free shipping, with a limit of five per customer, at Amazon.com by Amazon actual. The other colors go for more.

If you like buying headphone gear from Japanese sellers, the Audio Technica AT-HA2 headphone amplifier is currently going for $59 with free shipping (from Japan) by seller “Style from Japan” through Amazon.com. Please note the standard free shipping does not offer a tracking number. The shopping cart did not have other options for expedited shipping. The delivery estimate is about one month after purchase. If you don’t feel comfortable with any of these, do not proceed!

The white-blue-cyan color scheme of the unpowered Belkin Rockstar Multi Headphone Splitter (one input, up to five outputs) is currently on sale for $9 at Amazon.com by Amazon. You can buy as many as you like. This is not part of the Add-On program, so if you are a Prime member, you get free 2-day shipping even if you only buy one. The other six color options go for $14+. They average 4.7 out of 5 with nearly 200 customer reviews. Keep in mind, since this is not powered, the number and type of headphones you attach to will impact the volume (“insert math-physics here”).

The unpowered, one input, two outputs, Belkin Speaker and Headphone Splitter, in the white color scheme, is currently on sale for $2.15 each, with a limit of five per customer at Amazon.com by Amazon. This is half the price of the black color scheme, but there is a catch. The one on sale is part of the Add-On program, so you need to place an order of $25+, otherwise the shopping cart will Mutombo you (will not allow you to purchase it no matter what). Five of these will only get you to $10.75. The restriction also applies to Prime members. These average 4.2 out of 5 based on 1800+ customer reviews.

It’s been a very busy week at Massdrop, three more items were added, each with six days left (from blog-posting date). Of the three, one is fully unlocked, the red Calyx Audio PaT DAC/Headphone Amp goes for $89 shipped. The other two are not there yet, the Creative Sound Blaster X7 Amp/DAC combo could go as low as $310 shipped, while the Lake People G109 Headphone Amplifier could go as $460 shipped. As usual, I only post the initial listing for each item there, I cannot individually track each offer as time goes by.

The Sony PHA-3 Headphone Amp is currently available in “Used – Good” condition for $656, and “Used – Very Good” for $678 by Amazon Warehouse Deals. As usual with used items, both supplies and prices can change more often than usual, so there’s a YMMV component (no pun intended) depending on when you read this.

Three more items got added to Massdrop today, ending in about seven days from today (today being blog-posting date). As of the time of writing, none of them are fully unlocked (= lowest price possible). They are:

The Sennheiser HD6 MIX headphones are currently on sale for $150 at zZounds.com with two left as of the time of writing. They are also on sale for the same price, but they are estimated to ship in mid June at Musician’s Friend and they are at the unpredictable “temporarily out of stock” at Amazon.

Good until 6/30/15, there is a coupon promotion that gets you an 8% off discount on individual items with a price of $80 or more at Guitar Center with coupon code GC0889 and at Musician’s Friend with coupon code mf0889 entered over there. A lot of items are eligible but not everything in their stores. The promotional pages list the eligible items. You can narrow them down using the left sidebar over there. Eligible headphones can be found by drilling down on the Pro Audio category. At Guitar Center, there are 41 headphone models while at MF there are 91 headphone models. If you are not familiar with the price range, do price-check them. The more expensive an item, the bigger the dollar value impact of an 8% discount.

Xiaomi will officially open its US store on June 1st at 10pm eastern (per their facebook), and among the items that will be on sale are their semi-open on-ear headphones, the “Mi Headphones” (50mm drivers) for $80. Xiaomi is perhaps better known so far for their bang for the buck Pistons 2 and 3 in-ears. This is the detailed page for the headphones, with their reliability test data at the bottom. They come with a variety of accessories (bottom of page).

The closed-back over-ear NAD VISO HP50 are currently offered for $224~ in “Used – Good” condition (damaged packaging, cosmetic imperfections) by Amazon Warehouse Deals (AWD). If you don’t like cosmetic imperfections, there’s a “Used – Very Good” (damaged packaging) option further down for $239~. This for the black color scheme. There’s also an open-box option for the red for $250 by Gramophone via AWD.

This has no customer reviews so it may be more of interest to the curious and the testers. This Jeecoo Square Shaped Carrying Hard Case for earbuds/IEMs is on sale for $5 at Amazon.com. It is sold by Jeecoo, but ships from Amazon warehouses so it is eligible for free 2-day Prime shipping. Not to jinx it, but it is not part of the Amazon Add-On program, so you can buy just one and get free 2-day shipping. There are seven pictures of it there, along with dimensions. The “hard” part is described over there as “High Grade Leatherette material (PU Leather)”. They have a zipper and mesh pocket inside, their brown faux-leathery look perhaps may be their biggest selling point?

UB40 sings of “red red wine” but if you prefer “red red in-ears”, the red Vsonic VSD3S with detachable cable are currently on sale for $50 with free shipping by Lend Me UR ears Singapore with the order shipping from Amazon.com (USA warehouses) and eligible for free 2-day Prime shipping. As of the time of writing, the page there says there are 12 units left in-stock. If red is not your color, the blue are also going for $50.

NOTE #1: when price-checking these, make sure to check whether they are detachable or not – there are various options.

NOTE #2: for other well-received Asian IEMs, check the Lend Me Your Ears fulfilled by Amazon storefront. These ship from an Amazon USA warehouse, not from Singapore. Lend Me sends them to Amazon USA warehouses and Amazonia handles the shipping/etc.

NOTE #3: similar to the list of eBay Stores created in the Sidebar of this blog, I will also add a list of Amazon storefronts. {coming soon, but feel free to remind/yell at me if it doesn’t arrive soon!}

More offers launched today at Massdrop, and as of the time of writing, two of them have reached the lowest price possible. The Philips Fidelio L1 semi-open headphones go for $100 plus $10 flat shipping, while Velour Earpads for the new ATH-Mx headphones from Sound Professionals are offered for $20 plus $2 flat shipping. Five color options are available at checkout and they fit the M50x, M40x, M30x, and M20x, along with the M50 (per the listing there).

Also launched there but not at their lowest price possible as of the time of writing are the Fostex TH500RP for $510, the Parrot Zik 2.0 as low as $328 headphones. On the in-ear front, the Beyerdynamic MXP 50 iE could go as low as $32~ shipped. Of potential interest, the red Focusrite 18i8 Interface could go as low as $305 shipped.

All the above end in about seven days from blog-posting date (not the date you are reading this).

PS: when looking at Philips headphones, beware of an “L” in their model name. It is an indicator of a Lightning connector (newer Apple devices). An example of a new Philips L-headphone, the Fidelio M2L (M2L/27).

As of a 5/29/15 re-check, they got scooped up at $87… The desktop FiiO E09K is currently available in “Used – Very Good” condition for around $87 by Amazon Warehouse Deals. The listing says minor cosmetic imperfections and damaged original packaging. This averages 4.4 out of 5 based on 95 customer reviews.

NewEgg has a two part Sennheiser promotion expiring at the end of day on 5/30/15. The first part are promo code discounts that can get you the HD 202 II for $15, the HD 439 for $40, the HD 518 open-back for $60 among others. The second part are promotional gift cards ($10 to $50) when you buy some of their newest headphone models (RS195, M2 AE2i, Urbanite XL, Momentum In-Ears, etc). The Momentum In-Ears go for $100 with a $20 promotional gift card, which is not a bad price, but the offer only applies to the red color scheme for Galaxy/Android.

The Sennheiser MM30G In Ears are currently on sale for $23 with free shipping by Adorama on Amazon. It ships from Adorama so everyone gets free shipping, but on the other hand, it does not qualify for free 2-day Prime shipping. These average 4 out of 5 based on 420+ customer reviews.

As of the time of writing, Amazon Warehouse Deals has the Ultrasone Performance 880 S-Logic Plus headphones in Used – Very Good condition for $231 (was $243) with free shipping. The new condition price is twice that… Price updated here 5/27/15 at 2:32am ET…

Back to the small things, if you are not in a hurry to receive them (they ship either from Singapore or Hong Kong), you can get 100 (one hundred) black sponge earbud caps for around $3 with free shipping by various sellers through Amazon.com. These critters average 4.5 out of 5 based on 21 customer reviews. Check each seller’s “ships from” country and their review and rating profile. As of the time of writing, seller XCell has the best profile with 96% with over 220,000 transactions.

The new condition Audio-Technica ATH-R70x open-back headphones (an open-back parallel to their closed-back M70x) goes for $350 in new condition but you can get it for $288 in “Used – Very Good” by Amazon Warehouse Deals. Do check reviews if you are not familiar with these, as the AT *70x launches are being met with resistance. Which perhaps goes to show that almost every successful headphone line has a ceiling.